I have the same knack with kids, I’ve had it forever. “Oh you’re going to be such a good parent” was something I heard constantly.
It’s different when one’s own kids, and it takes extra patience to have the same skill set as you do with “stranger” kids. Without getting into it too much, being in a position of “authority” with a “stranger” kid changes the dynamic as compared to one’s own kids.
I dunno if that makes sense, but I’ve found it to be true for me.
I also seemed to have figured it out with my own kids, it just takes more work and more patience.
Kids generally are nicer and more well behaved to people other than their parents. It's masking, their parent may feed and love them no matter what but a stranger has little obligation and could do God knows what. It also just takes energy to mask so they may have to take it out of their parents instead later, when they run out of that masking energy.
A normal life preservation strategy is to be more neutral around people you know less, which seems baked into human instinct.
It’s different when one’s own kids, and it takes extra patience to have the same skill set as you do with “stranger” kids. Without getting into it too much, being in a position of “authority” with a “stranger” kid changes the dynamic as compared to one’s own kids.
I dunno if that makes sense, but I’ve found it to be true for me.
I also seemed to have figured it out with my own kids, it just takes more work and more patience.